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This Lead manager Amount No of Share week Eu m issues %

This Lead manager Amount No of Share week £m issues %

BT ALEX BROWN is expected to launch the debt financing backing Cinven and CVC's £825m purchase of William Hill from Nomura International today (Friday). It will consist of a syndicated loan and a high yield bond issue. Most bankers believe the syndicated loan will be between £360m and £380m and that the terms will be similar to those that applied on the 1998 William Hill loan - also arranged by BT Alex Brown.

French corporates Carrefour and Elf Aquitaine launched debut Eu1bn 10 year transactions this week, but the contrast in the reception to the new issues highlighted the need for careful preparation - even in the face of strong demand for corporate debt. While Carrefour launched its transaction after roadshows in five countries and an extensive bookbuilding exercise, Elf tapped the market after less than two days of premarketing. Both deals were finely priced, but Carrefour's marketing efforts paid off as the deal was far the better received of the two.

Market commentary: Compiled by Jim Webber, TD Securities, London. Tel: +44 171 282 8216

GLOBAL co-ordinator Salomon Smith Barney will next week launch the sale of stock in Christiania Bank in a deal that will raise around Nkr2.8bn ($350m). The deal will be the first of this year's large bank stock sales from the Nordic region. The region's markets were due to host several such divestments last year, but many were put on hold as international investors re-rated financial stocks in the light of the global financial crisis.

The Republic of Colombia turned its back on difficult euro markets this week and instead went to the US bond market to raise $500m. The deal, led by JP Morgan (books), Chase and Merrill Lynch, was a five year structured issue with a one year option to exchange par for par the new 2004s for a new bond maturing in 2028 that will be issued next year.

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Corporate issuers stepped up their assault on the euro market this week as investors' appetite for corporate paper overcame concerns over market volatility. With a range of diverse credits queuing up to tap European investors' new-found taste for risk, the deal flow should maintain a heady pace. But a hastily prepared and difficult Eu1bn 10 year transaction for Elf Aquitaine showed the dangers of taking the corporate bid for granted. Carrefour followed a more thorough route for a similarly dated and sized issue, and was rewarded with attractive funding and a warm reception.

The diversity of credits issuing in the euro bond markets continues to amaze investment bankers, as the pipeline of new issues in the booming new currency sector - which for the first two months of the year has overshadowed the dollar bond markets - reaches full to overflowing. Successful issues are no longer the certainty they sometimes appeared to be in previous weeks. Swap spreads have come in by 10bp to 15bp, and credit spreads by similar margins.

Croatia The debut deal for around $100m for telecoms company VIP-net from Croatia is being arranged and lead managed by the Vienna branch of Creditanstalt. The proceeds will be used to expand the company's network. VIP-net's main shareholder is Austrian telecoms company Mobilkom.

The European Investment Bank demonstrated its intention to be bracketed in the same class as Europe's leading sovereign borrowers this week when it launched its Euro Area Reference Notes (EARNs) programme for issuance of its benchmark euro denominated transactions. As revealed last week in Euroweek, the EARNs facility - arranged by ABN Amro and Paribas - will attempt to mirror the borrowing programmes of EU governments.